Pretty new shopfront

Spoonflower has had a facelift! My little Fabric Shop is looking really cute.

After an inspiring lunch with my Linda a few weeks ago, I have developed a daydream of opening an actual brick and mortar Fabric Store (maybe in Maleny......)

Just a little shopfront, with a studio out the back where I could design and create.... and a super cute little shop where customers could buy original, cool fabric. have you noticed how hard that is to find in this Spotlight-dominated retail fabric market?

Services like Spoonflower are such a liberation for the designer and for the fabric buying customer. I only wish they would open a branch in Australia!! Maybe in Maleny.... I'll sweep the floors and make the coffee....

X Gillian

Tessie moves in

Until now, the hub of the Tessie production operation has been in Maleny. 

Now, it's in my kitchen.

My lovely parents are about to embark on a Grey Nomad Expedition around southern Australia, so Mum has stepped away from the day to day production side of Tessie. I was gonna make her take her sewing machine and mail me a bag a week from wherever they were.... but I think she has earned a break. 

So, I'm on my own!!!!

I love that I now have all the Tessie girls around me for inspiration. I have been focussing on Book Covers lately, but I am ready to start on some other new products. Yeah, Baby.

X Gillian 

In front of the red door

 For the next 3 weeks, it will just be me and the little boys. My Lovely Husband has returned to the mother country. I will miss him very much and will try my hardest not to drop my basket while looking after the little monkeys!! My Awesome Teenager is also away, but I have called in the cavalry and will have some help from my beautiful family.

So, on Saturday we took some pictures, so I could remember what everybody looked like.

They look beautiful.

I miss him already.


Three weeks is the longest Gav has been away since the babies were born, so I am a little nervous. I know it ill be OK, but I can't guarantee I won't drop my basket a little...


How long have you flown solo with your kids?
*major props to single mummies with little ones... especially twins- you are super rockstars.


x Gillian

Dressing the books

I received a new fabric order from Spoonflower last week, and got inspired!!

I am focussing on products to take to the Mummy Tree Markets in October, and my first goal is to create a collection of Book Covers. As far as I'm concerned, all books NEED TO BE CLOTHED!!! That is my mission.... dressin' the books, people. Nude books are so last century....

So after getting all my bits together (jelly beans for colour inspiration only, of course) me and Mrs Janome got to work....

Owly Journal Cover 

I have actually had this fabric sinvce the very first Spoonflower order we ever did. I think this is the perfect project for it

Teapot Journal Cover

This fabric was inspired by my Teapot Collection. I think it works really well with this upcycled upholstery fabric from Reverse Garbage. 

Patchwork Journal Cover

I am so in love with this patchwork fabric. I've used some of our Spoonflower fabric in conjunction with odd bits and pieces of upholstery fabrics and other scraps... I find the process really therapeutic and calming... But, man it take a bloody long time!!! I think its worth it though. Love the look.

All of these Book Covers are now available for sale over in my Etsy Store.
They are A5 size, reuseable and all come with a lined 200 page notebook.

Unfortunately, I ate all the colour inspiration... or I coulda thrown some o' them in too.....

Cheers,

Gillian for Tessie Girl

Graffiti Gang

There are reports that a gang (or duo) of trouble makering, graffiti-ing, crazy lunatics is roaming our area.....

Seeking out chalk and toy cars.....

They display a blatant disregard for societies rules,

And can be unreasonably silly.

They have also been known to use charm and gorgeousness as a diversion,

Which totally works.......

The public is advised not to worry too much, as they are easily distracted,

And often sign their real names....

x Gillian 

Park Life

I am slightly socially retarded.. I find making new friends difficult, and the thought of a 'Mothers Group' freaks the hell outta me. 

I went to one when the Awesome Teenager was little and the other Mum's were  mean to me.... Or I think they were. I was like 23 and they gave me the stink eye when they asked about my mortgage and I said, "Lady, I don't own anything I can't carry by myself... Don't need a mortgage for platform shoes and Beatles books! (that's what I said in my head... I probably just said nothing, blushed and chased after my 2yo to hide behind...)

So, I am sooooooo lucky to have a group of lovely girlfriends with kids that I can hang out with on Mondays at the park. I have known these girls for a looong time... and they like me anyway.

Thanks girlies. I don't think you know how much you mean.

*note: Mel and Ang are my Park Girls, along with Ang's sister in law Lynn (who didn't make it for her closeup this week!), but I must also include my Linda and my Sally in my List of Cool Chicks with Little Kids Who Keep Me Sane. And my sister. The end. 

How cute are these kids?!?!? We should start a Kiddie Modeling Agency and retire to Rio.
Or a Ridiculously Good Looking Football Team..

Do you belong to a Mother's Group? Or are you socially challenged like me?

X Gillian

The Awesome Performer

Last Wednesday night, Mum had I went to the Awesome Teenagers Drama Performance night. The theme was Physical Theatre. The kids had attended workshops with Zen Zen Zo theatre company, and then had to come up with a piece on a given theme. Max's theme was 'Facing the Hidden'


 Now, I was a total Drama kid at school (when I wasn't being called 'Freak' my nickname was often 'Theatrehead'... like that's an insult!). So, on the way there, I said to mum, "I think we are up for lots of Black vs White/ Good vs Evil kinda action tonight!"
And boy was I right! But, I didn't factor in that it's the year 2011, so there was also zombies. Lots of zombies.

source

I was totally blown away by these kids. They took the challenging genre of Physical Theatre and embraced it. On the whole, they were fearless and committed. I loved that they were so into it!! I loved the kid making Frankenstein monsters with his little hip hop moves. I loved the  Black versus White/ Good versus Evil beauty myth group. I love the fluro painted group. Fluro Zombies. Yeah man.


And,
HOLY SHIT!


 I loved my Awesome Teenager and his group! I nearly bounced off the ceiling with pride and joy and awe. Their concept was so spot on- it was tight, professional and really well devised. Their message was clear and they all performed beautifully.

Max (Evil) and his mate Hayden (Good) after the show.
Max is still in character...
(thanks Hayden's Mum for the pic... my camera died)

AND YES, I AM TOTALLY BIASED!!!!!!


My pride swelled and exploded when my Awesome Teenager was the one to come onstage at the end of the night to thank everyone for coming. He then called their teacher up onstage to thank her and he gave her a big hug! So proud.


I thought later, what happened to the little boy I have encouraged and protected for fifteen years, that I have worried about,  loved fiercely, sometimes felt enormous guilt over, wished to the universe for?


He is that tall skinny man I saw onstage tonight- so impressive, so confident and sure of himself. I felt an almost physical weight being lifted from my shoulders. He is almost grown. 


And he is Totally Fricken' Awesome.


X Gillian

Cheeky Little Place

A few months ago, I posted about the brand work I had created for my sister Deb's upcoming cafe in Tasmania.

It's Open!! Yay! Check out this article in the New Norfolk News. What the article doesn't say is that Deb is Hospitality Yoda- what she doesn't know about working in and running a cafe aint worth knowing. I am so cranky that the cafe is in Tasmania!!! I want a coffee and a home made beef pie!

Super cute little place.  Deb and Matt refitted the little shop attached to the front of their house.

How cute is this sign?!?!

I am so incredibly proud of Deb for taking this chance and doing something to change her and her family's life for the better. I just know she will be incredibly successful. I am also so impressed that she and her husband Matt did the majority of the refit work themselves. They worked so hard and they deserve the success that's gonna come flooding into their Cheeky Little Place!!!!

Interior- with blank wall for the artwork I created for them- can't wait to see it up!!

So if you are in Tassie, go and check it out!! I guarantee it will be the best coffee you have had in a long time.  And that is straight from my Coffee Man... and he knows his shit!


X Gillian for Tessie Girl

The Rosie Sisters

See the lovely, fluffy, white bears in the above pic? 

I actually think this photo is quite flattering! The Rosies look waaaay worse than this in real life. Maybe it's the smell.

This is what they look like today.  Gross. They have lived and been loved hard.  Oh, they are loved. Eli especially cannot sleep without his Rosie. He is the main ear-sucker Jasper is more of a tail twiddler. Eli will also inexplicably decide when it is time for he and Jasper to 'Swap!' their Rosies, and god help Jasper if he doesn't want to!

Did I mention that they smell? When we flew home from the UK last year (a harrowing tale of woe that I will one day share here... when I have recovered), by the time we reached Brisbane, after about 26 hours of ear sucking, the Rosies smelt like vinegar. Vinegar!! How is that even possible?? Most days they just smell like Yuck.

I wash them once a week, have soaked them in napisan and bleach, and yet within two seconds of the boys getting hold of them, they look like a couple of homeless people. But boy, they looked loved. (I'm not saying that all homeless people aren't loved, or deserving of love... I'm just sayin' that the Rosie sisters often look like they have slept rough under the Victoria Bridge... in the rain. After wrestling with a pit bull.)

I don't remember having a toy that I loved with such passion when I was little. The Awesome Teenager loved his Donald Duck and Blue Teddy Dwight when he was little, and they were very, very special to him.. but he didn't suck thier ears, and twiddle thier tails until they fell apart!!!  The love that Eli and Jasper have for Rosie is a whole other thing. And I think its' kind of cool. Except for the smell. And the wet, manky ears getting wiped on your face. Gross, Rosies. Just gross.

The Rosies were a gift from Aunty Jodi- they were a limited edition offer through her company Lorraine Lea Linen. I lose sleep at night wondering what will happen when the Rosies self destruct...  because they don't make them anymore!!! Rosie helps me get through the day... and the night. I may have to take up hard drinking. Or meditation..... Jodi gave me a pair of gorgeous bears called PJ (Rosies boyfriend) but the twins couldn't give a damn about these lovely boy bears. I think they are just too clean!!

Do your kids have a special best friend kinda toy?

Little Artists

I remember always being defined by my ability to create. I remember considering myself an artist in preschool- I knew it was my thing, even then. My friends would be forced to draw when they came to my house for playdates- I couldn't understand why everyone didn't want to draw all the time like I did!

I wonder if there is a little artist emerging here?

x Gillian

Fanboy

Everyone should have someone in their life, for whom the perfect birthday present is an old heater fan that doesn't work.

Or, as the guy from the Woolloongabba Antique Centre said, "Wow, that thing looks cool, doesn't it? But don't turn it on. Seriously, I mean it. Don't tun it on. It will burn your house down."

Awesome!!!

My brother-in-law Tom. 

I take now responsibility for the hat. That is all his own work.

X Gillian for Tessie Designs.

Fathers Day

Yesterday, I was thankful that I have the best Dad around

And so do my babies

X Gillian for Tessie Designs

Twin Talk

My monkeys speak their own language.....

source

This is a multiple choice quiz... The winner gets to come to my house and watch Shrek 4 while sweeping up sultanas. And maybe, clean some poo offa the ceiling. I'm just sayin'. Shit can get crazy real quick around here. Literally.

OK,

Monkey Talk:
'Backy Backy Day'
Translation:
1) Back the truck up, Lady!
2) I wanna go into the back yard
3) Remember back in the day when you didn't have to wear shapewear to wear a T Shirt and jeans, mummy?


Monkey Talk:
'Freddy Le Pop'
Translation:
1) I'm ready to mop (I wish!)
2) Freddy Mercury is the bomb

3) Can I hop out of my highchair

Monkey Talk:

'Calla Walla'

Translation:

1) Caterpiller

2) Cauliflower

3) Cunnamulla (well, they are the Children of a Cartographer... they know their geography!) 

4) All of the above

Monkey Talk:

'Jaffar and Elow'

Translation:

1) A crimefighting super duo

2) An  Aussie hip hop duo

3) A crazy, TV smashing, paint peeling, nudist, noisy, super star, awesome duo 

Answers: We wanna go in the backyard when we hop out of our highchairs and draw some caterpillers and cauliflower. On your car! Love, Jasper and Eli

Elow

Jaffar

Do your kids have any funny sayings or pronunciations?

X Gillian for Tessie Designs